Marist draws Michigan State in 1st round of NCAA women's tourney

The falling snow outside of Shadows on the Hudson Restaurant in Poughkeepsie had the Marist women's basketball team dreaming of going someplace warm for the NCAA tournament, but a "local" trip will do just fine.

What's next: The winner will play Monday against either No. 4 Maryland (24-7) or No. 13 Quinnipiac (30-2). Region top seed Connecticut (29-4) looms as a likely third-round foe in Bridgeport on March 30 or 31.

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The falling snow outside of Shadows on the Hudson Restaurant in Poughkeepsie had the Marist women's basketball team dreaming of going someplace warm for the NCAA tournament, but a "local" trip will do just fine.

The Red Foxes drew the No. 12 seed in the Bridgeport Regional on Monday night, and will head six hours south to College Park, Md. Marist (26-6), which has won eight straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships, will take on Big Ten finalist Michigan State (24-8) in a first-round game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

"I think Maryland is a great location,'' said Emma O'Connor. "Obviously, it's not warm, but it's still College Park. ... We will definitely get a ton of people coming out, a ton of fans. Our fans are so loyal to us. I have a good feeling that we're going to have a great turnout from our Marist community.''

Coach Brian Giorgis said he was fine with the No. 12 seed, which matches the 2009 and 2010 seeds. He said he was a bit surprised to see Michigan State at No. 5, but believes his team should be able to compete.

"They are a team that is very similar to us,'' Giorgis said. "They have six players averaging over seven points a game, and they are ranked very high defensively.''

Michigan State was the fourth seed in the Big Ten tourney. The Spartans beat No. 5 Michigan 62-46 and upset No. 1 Penn State 54-46, before falling to Purdue 64-47 in the final. The Spartans lineup goes 6-foot-4, 6-1, 5-11, 5-7 and 5-7.

Marist is riding a 21-game win streak, and is ranked No. 26 in the coaches' poll. Marist has earned a reputation as an upset artist with four first-round wins — Ohio State in 2007, DePaul in 2008, Iowa State in 2011 and Georgia in 2012.

"We will have our hands full, but when haven't we?'' Giorgis said. "We will give it our best shot and see what happens.''

"Our coaches are very good at scouting so we will go into the next couple practices being prepared for Michigan State,'' O'Connor said.

"Playing against those teams I think will help us because we learn from those games,'' said freshman Sydney Coffey. "We are definitely up to it. We will be ready to play and we're all excited. As long as we go out there and play hard and play our best that's all we can do.''

A packed house of hundreds jammed their way into the restaurant, and the Marist players and staff in front-row seats for the ESPN selection telecast.

"It's just a great experience having all our fans come out,'' O'Connor said. "It's kind of like we are doing this together."